Environics Research on Private Copying Levy

I have located the study quoted by Mrs. Lavallée yesterday in the House of Commons that claimed 79% of Canadians who copy would be fine with a $40 levy on 30GB or higher MP3 players. You can find it here on the CPCC's web site.


First, the study was funded by the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) so take it with a grain of salt.


Second, this same study also claims that:

Among those people who have made copies of pre-recorded music, a slim majority (54%) feel that individuals should be free to make private copies without paying any money to the creators of the music.

I would posit that what most people consider to be 'copying' would not be the same as the legal interpretation. If you say 'copying' in the context of media these days, most people think of file sharing, or perhaps the copying of someone else's content. Few people would equate 'copying' with 'listening to music on my iPod', when they are in fact the same.


There was also no attempt to dig into this seemingly blatant contradiction within the study's own findings. Once you consider that this study is already getting a bit dated, I would conclude that this study should not merit much consideration in the formulation of any serious public policy or legislation.